New Trailer For ‘The Adjustment Bureau’

Universal Pictures has released the full trailer for the Matt Damon/Emily Blunt flick The Adjustment Bureau – a film based on a short story by sci-fi author Philip K. Dick (Blade Runner) which was adapted for the screen and directed by George Nolfi (co-screenwriter of The Bourne Ultimatum).

The Adjustment Bureau tells the tale of David Norris (Damon), an up-and-coming New York politician who meets and falls in love with a foreign, professional ballerina (Blunt). Fate literally conspires to keep the two apart as Norris discovers that his destiny – and everyone else’s for that matter – is controlled by a mysterious group of men dressed in matching fedoras and business suits.

You can have a look at the trailer below (via Yahoo! Movies):

This trailer brings to mind memories of last year’s Richard Kelly film The Box, another sci-fi/paranoia thriller based on a short story by an acclaimed author that revolved around a philosophical dilemma concerning free will and the ability of everyday individuals to control their lives.

That film also involved a villainous stranger in a fedora-like hat but that might just be a coincidence. ;)

Seriously, would you trust a guy who wears a hat like that?

The mysterious men who control Fate itself in The Adjustment Bureau trailer seem to lack the distinctly eery, disturbing air of Frank Langella’s gentleman from The Box (for obvious reasons – see above). Their less outwardly dangerous demeanors could lend them a more formidable presence in the film since they appear to be all-powerful and thus have no need to look threatening.

George Nofi will be making his directorial debut with The Adjustment Bureau, a fact that in part accounts for the ordinary cinematography and design of the footage in the film’s trailer. He has already proven that he can construct a sensible, fast-paced thriller – something which The Box arguably was anything but – with his work on the third Bourne film so hopefully that will be the case with this new Matt Damon vehicle as well.

Working also in the film’s favor is the added presence of such top-notch performers as Emily Blunt (The Wolfman), John Slattery (Iron Man 2), and Terence Stamp (Valkyrie). Whether they’ll be able to prevent the film from becoming yet another doldrum adaptation of a Philip K. Dick “man on the run” story (a la Paycheck, Next) and instead rank among the better movies based on his work (the underrated Minority Report being the best example) remains to be seen.

So what do you think? Does The Adjustment Bureau looks intriguing?

The Adjustment Bureau hits theaters in the U.S. on September 17, 2010.